Galatians 3:3
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Context3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began 1 with 2 the Spirit, are you now trying to finish 3 by human effort? 4
Galatians 5:16-17
Context5:16 But I say, live 5 by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 6 5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires 7 that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to 8 each other, so that you cannot do what you want.
1 tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.
2 tn Or “by the Spirit.”
3 tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.
4 tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”
5 tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).
6 tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.
7 tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).